-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Why did I fall in love with superheroes ?

For me , it was all about the masks .

You see , growing up in the '70s , I learned early on that expecting to see someone who looked like me in a heroic role on TV or in the movies was like waiting for a unicorn to wander into our living room . When Asians did show up , it was usually in thankless , forgettable roles as nameless henchmen or comic relief : mules and donkeys , not unicorns .

Which is why I turned to the world of comics . The bigger-than-life icons who fought for truth , justice and the American way in comic books often donned cowls , helmets and hoods to hide their identities to protect their loved ones from the vengeance of their diabolical nemeses . But their masks also allowed me to imagine myself -LRB- or someone very like me -RRB- beneath the Lycra Spandex .

While I never quite felt authentic pretending to be James Bond , agent 007 , or Steve Austin , the Six Million Dollar Man , a few tiny tweaks were all it took to become Batman or Spider-Man . All I had to do was re-envision Bruce Wayne as Bruce Wang , Peter Parker as Peter Park . The rest of their stories readily fell in line : Child of a doctor ? Check . Nerdy science student ? Check .

Masks made the magic possible .

When the masks came off , however , the fantasy ended . Batman was revealed as a billionaire WASP playboy , and Spider-Man a working-class Irish-American from Forest Hills , both with sparkling blue eyes .

And that 's why I 'm holding off on getting too excited over Marvel 's recent announcements that Captain America will pass his shield and red , white and blue tights on to his African-American friend and partner Sam Wilson , and Thor , God of Thunder , will turn his winged helmet , his mighty hammer Mjolnir and his divine powers over to an as-yet-unnamed woman . Costumes are just clothes . In the world of comics , they get passed around like the sniffles at a kindergarten .

Do n't get me wrong . It 's great to see the comics make an effort at diversifying the halls of justice . A look at any toy aisle or movie marquee is all you need to see the degree to which superheroes have moved to the very center of our pop culture .

Maybe that 's because , as celebrated graphic novelist Gene Luen Yang says , `` Superheroes are quintessentially American . They were created in America , they 're most popular in America , and in many ways , they embody American ideals . That 's why we want diverse heroes : because we want to affirm that anyone can be an American . ''

But just swapping costumes does n't quite do that -- not in a permanent way , anyway . `` The problem with nonwhite characters taking over the legacies of established white characters is that the changes never seem to stick , '' says Yang . `` The Asian-American Atom got a sword in his belly . The African-American Goliath got lightning-bolted through the heart . The Asian-American Wasp got eaten by a supervillain . And the African-American Green Lantern simply receded to the background when it came time to make a major motion picture . The costume almost always reverts back to the original wearer . ''

And when the costumes go away , the secret identities beneath them remain . Cartoonist Vishavjit Singh saw this firsthand when he decided to go out in public in a Captain America costume , modified to accommodate his Sikh turban and beard , testing Yang 's premise that `` anyone can be American . ''

`` The transformation of how people saw and responded to me was startling , '' says Singh . `` Americans and tourists alike were turning heads , breaking out into smiles , offering high fives and warm words of support . But as soon as I got out of the costume , I encountered stereotypical epithets about my turban and beard . ''

The fact is , the only way to really make the superhero universe look like America -LRB- and by extension , the world -RRB- is to create fresh , new heroes who represent us in all our vibrant diversity , with origin stories that are authentic to their identities .

In the graphic novel collections , `` Secret Identities '' and `` Shattered , '' my co-editors and I challenged Asian-American comic creators to pen original tales of Asian-American superheroes who were Asian-American from the very beginning . This was just a small step in the right direction .

Because when you create new heroes , they do n't have the weight of history behind them . Superman boosted spirits in the wake of the Great Depression and fought Nazis in World War II . He 's woven into our nation 's fabric . It takes the passage of time for a hero to achieve cultural capital , something that will take decades for modern heroes-come-lately .

Fortunately , it turns out an Asian-American superhero of Golden Age vintage actually exists . Back in the early 1940s , one of the few Asian-Americans working in comics was Chu F. Hing , who invented the Green Turtle -- a character he reportedly conceived of as Chinese-American . However , with `` yellow peril '' fears rampant in the years after World War II , Chu was forbidden by his editors to reveal that the Turtle was Asian . In defiance , Chu never drew his Turtle out of costume , and the character quickly fell into obscurity .

Now , the Turtle is back . Gene Yang and collaborator Sonny Liew , in a new graphic novel called `` The Shadow Hero , '' are giving him a fresh origin story that shows his rise from Chinatown grocery store stock boy to invincible Chinese-American crime buster -- under the watchful tutelage of his cranky uncle and overprotective mom .

In doing so , they 've brought this original Asian-American superhero to the attention of a new era . This means that for my kids and future generations , there might finally be a masked marvel they can legitimately call their own -- one whose origins are deeply rooted in our nation 's past , yet whose features reflect the ones they see when they look in the mirror .

To me , that would be super .

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Marvel is creating an African-American Captain America and a female Thor

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Jeff Yang : It 's great to see the comics make an effort at diversifying the halls of justice

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He asks when will there be an Asian-American superhero we can identify with ?

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Yang : Green Turtle , an Asian-American hero created in 1940s , may be coming back to life